The Rangers released the following statement at 6:03 p.m. Wednesday on the status of defenseman Marc Staal:

"Following an injury suffered in (Tuesday) night's game vs. Philadelphia, Marc Staal was examined (Wednesday) in New York by Dr. Mark Fromer, ophthalmologist, and Dr. Mendel Markowitz, maxillofacial surgeon. The injury has improved significantly and both doctors are optimistic that Marc will make a full recovery. Staal will be sidelined indefinitely."

The team did not provide specifics on Staal's injury.

The most specific update came earlier Wednesday in a story on NHL.com by Dan Rosen in which Staal’s brother, Eric, the Carolina Hurricanes captain, says: “They’re just waiting for the swelling to go down” in the area around Marc’s eye before making further determination on the extent of the injury.

Eric told Rosen that he spoke to Marc on Wednesday morning and “he sounded like he was in OK spirits, but we don’t know a lot right now. Obviously we’re saying prayers and hoping he dodged a bullet as far as being struck in that area. We’ll know more with some more time.”

The Rangers claimed defenseman Roman Hamrlik off waivers on Wednesday afternoon. Staal took a puck to the eye in Tuesday night’s 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at the Garden.